Head Gasket - peace of mind..

[flippin'eck]

Recently had a problem with the cooling system which resulted in partial loss of coolant (leak at the top of the rusty radiator).

Resulted in a hunting idle when cold. Caught it fairly quickly, car was driven only a couple of miles with low coolant.

Managed to plug up the hole temporarily, & the car now holds coolant ok & it seems to run fine.

After a short test run, 5 miles or so, the coolant's still clear, no mayo.. oil seems visually ok on the dipstick.. a certain amount of white steam in the exhaust during start and warm up but that disappears after the engine's up to temp, that's probably no different to what it's always done

Sourced a replacement rad off another member - many thanks

Of course I'm now paranoid that I've damaged the head gasket so what's the best way of checking all's well? Should I just keep an eye on the state of the coolant and oil, or is it worth doing compression tests etc?

[MartG]

Just keep an eye on it - if its not losing coolant etc. then a compression test probably wouldn't show anything anyway

[flippin'eck]

Should I worry about the steam? There's not a great deal of it, I'm quite possibly only noticing it because I'm 'looking for problems'. Honestly can't recall if it's any more or less than it's always done.. does everyone else get it when the engine's below full temp?

[MartG]

It's always there in the exhaust ( burning any hydrocarbon produces CO2 and H2O ) - just more noticeable in cold weather.

[anthonyg]

it will just be condensation from inside your exhaust, happens to every car in the winter and is why exhausts rot from the inside out

[MartG]

and is why exhausts rot from the inside out

Moisture in the exhaust combines with soot deposits to form a weak carbonic acid solution

[flippin'eck]

Thanks fellers, I guess I'll just keep a bit of a close eye on the levels and look of the fluids for a while